The Hospital
by Literature work
Summary: Edward got Alphonse's body back and is waiting out the evening until he gets his surgery to remove the shrapnel from his shoulder. He ends up getting a few things off of his chest in his long night with the Colonel.


_Authour note: Sorry about being away for so long! I was at training and… well I ended up getting shot in the leg. You can picture how that blew over. I am trying to get back into writing but starting college is really making it difficult along with all of the emotional stress I am under. I am slowly starting up though and this was just a practice story to get me back into things. I will be making a couple of these before I finish the stories I already started just to make sure my writing is not in the same state as my leg! Ha!_

 _ **The Hospital**_

Edward looked down at his little brother asleep in his hospital bed. His skin was nearly as white as the sheets he was curled up in which made him almost look transparent, like a ghost. The only ounce of color that stood out on him was his overly long golden hair, which had lost its shine from lack of nourishment, and his golden eyes which were now hidden behind sleeping eyelids. His body was weak, terribly frail, all of his bones were prominent as his muscles had gone through six years of decay. Edward remembered picking him up out of the Gate not three days ago. He was so light it was as if a simple gust of wind might take him away if their arms weren't linked as tight as they were. Though he was worried for his brother's health, he couldn't help but smile as his brother slept silently with a slight grin. He was relieved to see him finally sleep after all of these years.

Suddenly, Edward heard a knock on the door of Alphonse's room and he turned around to see the Colonel stumble in blindly. He was guiding himself with his arm stretched out to the wall as if just to make sure he was still grounded on something. When he went into the Gate, or rather forced into the Gate, he had his sight ripped from him. The Doctors had placed him in the hospital not only to treat the scratches and concussions the man undoubtedly suffered but to try and to fix his vision as well. Edward kind of wanted to laugh at them knowing they wouldn't be able to fix it, not unless they were able to give up what he did to get his brother back. The Colonel knew that too, which was why he was constantly yelling at the nurses to bring him discharge papers. But now he just looked helpless, trying to find his way around his own world without his vision.

"Alphonse-" his deep voice said, still sounding with assurity his body now lacked.

"Quiet," Edward breathed to him. "He's asleep." His voice seemed to startle the Colonel a bit as he faltered in his already shaky steps. He obviously was not expecting someone else to be in there. Alphonse had gotten his own single room though both Elrics demanded that they wanted to be with each other. The medics had placed him by himself so that he could get the quiet he needed to rest and regain his energy. They had a strict no visitors policy. Roy frowned slightly and his brows furrowed in concentration.

"Fullmetal," he said, recognising his voice instantly, "You aren't supposed to be in here-"

"You aren't supposed to be in here either, bastard. I don't even know how you made it this far," Edward retorted lightly, his light banter lost to the stillness of the room.

"I am right next door. I don't need a bloody escort just for one room." The Colonel braved himself to let go of the wall and toe his way through the room unaided. He seemed to know the distance of the door to the bed as he stopped only a foot away from it, which made Edward imagine he had been here before, if not multiple times. He let out a huff as he stared blankly across the room, not able to see the patient he was visiting, or the friend he was next to.

"You however are on the opposite side of the hospital. You have surgery tomorrow, you should be resting Fullmetal."

"When was I ever the one to listen to anybody?" Edward replied haughtily. Yes, though it has been a few days, Edward was set up for surgery the next morning to get the metal removed from his right shoulder. It would have been done earlier but with all of the casualties, the hospital has been backed up with people who actually needed immediate care. Not only was Edward glad that the Hospital put him on the lower end of the priority list, but also because he knew that the surgery would undoubtedly be painful. Though the metal was hurting him right now, it just felt stiff and sore. Those pieces of metal were still connected to some of his nerves so he knew removing them would not only be risky but nearly as painful as putting them in. The nurses gave him pain medication for it however he didn't take it because it messed with his head. The only time he would get any was when the nurses forcefully gave it to him via syringe and that was after a long and enduring battle between provider and patient.

The Colonel smiled slightly at his retort knowing full well his stubbornness. "I guess I shouldn't even have questioned it," he sighed. There was long awkward pause between them where the only thing they could hear was the soft air conditioning blow into the room. Edward returned his gaze to his little brother and watched carefully as his chest rose and fell with every breath of the cool air. It was so peaceful that he couldn't help but a smile stretch across his face.

"How is he doing?" Roy asked him. Edward didn't tear his eyes off of his brother even to answer the Colonel. Instead, he quietly took a seat down on the edge of his brother's bed.

"Fine. I overheard the nurses say that they were going to try and feed him solids in a few days. I know he is really looking forward to that."

"There must be a lot that he misses from being in the armour for so long," Roy stated half mindedly. Edward nodded his head dumbly. There was another long and awkward silence, neither of them really knowing what to do other than keep the unconscious boy company.

"Edward," the Colonel said after a while. Edward turned his gaze ever so slightly to the glassy look of his commanding officer. The man never used his actual name unless it was something serious and the determined face of the Colonel told him it was."How long were you here?"

Edward shrugged and searched desperately around for a clock. He actually didn't know. It was hanging on the wall above the door with the time that read three in the morning. He had snuck into the room around eight when the last nurse left for the evening after changing Alphonse's IV bag again.

"Not long," he lied having been there for over seven hours, none of which his brother was actually conscious for. Alphonse was only awake a few good hours a day since his body was so sleep deprived it was trying to catch up on its sleep debt. Edward wasn't allowed in the room when he was awake, actually at all since they didn't want the emotional connection to send his brother's weak body into shock. Yet again, the strict no visitors policy. After all, the boy hadn't been able to cry in over six years. No one knew how he might handle it. However, this wasn't a concern for some of the medics. They knew full well that he, as well as some of the boy's other friends snuck in. They just kept it off of the radar as long as they didn't wake him up.

The Colonel seemed annoyed with his answer, knowing full well he wasn't telling the truth. "Edward, you should really get your rest. Surgery isn't an easy thing-"

"Neither are the hommunculi, but we seemed to do a pretty good job with them, right?" Edward chuckled hollowly. The Colonel sent a glare across the room towards the opposite wall since he didn't know exactly where he was.

"I am being serious," he said stiffly. Edward didn't reply. He just kept watching his brother. He heard the monitors beep softly, indicating that Alphonse was still alive and gradually growing stronger. His heart rate increased a good amount since he was admitted a few days ago. Edward could tell by the quicker pattern it had.

The Colonel suddenly reached out awkwardly in front of him and inched his way closer to him, or where he thought he was. Edward looked up, a bit annoyed for being interrupted to see the Colonel searching for him a good two feet away. "Get over here, crazy," he sighed and grabbed a hold of the man's hand and guided him down to sit on the edge of the bed next to him. The man accidentally bumped into his right shoulder and he groaned lightly, making the Colonel's stiff expression actually show a bit more concern than he was letting on. Edward assured him he was all fine but it seemed to go over his head. They were plunged into another wave of silence. It was a good ten minutes but finally it was broken from the most unlikely of the two.

"Colonel," Edward said awkwardly, not really sure on why he was even talking at all, especially to the Colonel of all people. The man's eyebrows raised slightly, letting him know he wasn't deaf either. "Did you ever… fear for a time you might not see someone again? Whether you didn't know when….. or for how long?" he asked. It was so quiet the wind could have dragged his words away. The Colonel sat there for a few silent minutes, his face contorted into silent reflection. Yes, Edward could tell he knew the feeling well, but the man didn't act on his memory.

"Edward, is that why you are here? He is still going to be here when you get back you know that right?" he said softly instead and he sounded rather concerned. Edward nodded his head again but remembered that he couldn't see his answer.

"Yeah," he muttered almost inaudibly. "But Colonel…. it isn't him I am worried about." This seemed to catch the full grown man off guard for a minute and he looked a bit puzzled.

"Edward….. the surgery isn't going to kill you. The worst it will do is make you lose your arm all over again if something goes terribly awry-" the man stumbled unsurely. Edward sent him an annoyed look but he kept staggering on, simply not being able to see it.

"Shut up about the surgery, you old fool, I am not talking about that," he grumbled, his nerves now being even more wracked up than usual.

"Then what are you talking about Fullmetal, give me a bloody clue here," the Colonel retorted. Edward rolled his eyes and turned his head away from the man, instead taking his time to watch the minutes of the clock tick by. He couldn't seem to be able to distract himself easily anymore.

"Colonel… I don't know how long I will be here," he finally confessed. There was a drowning silence that hit them as the reality seemed to impact them all in full force. Edward sighed and crossed his arms, earning a groan from his injured shoulder. The metal in it grinded together and he winced slightly. He took a deep breath and tried to make himself continue.

"In the mountains… I nearly died… I actually was supposed to die," Edward told him. He lifted his shirt to show the Colonel, a scar that no one but him and his Chimera allies knew he had. It was still puckered and pink, needing a few good years until it will actually look rather normal again. Seeing the Colonel's dead eyes, Edward gently took the man's hand and traced the outline of the scar on his abdomen in both the front and the back, letting the man know the full concept of his situation. The man's face betrayed him as a look of utter shock and horror spread over it. The man's mouth hung open but not even a sound could come out. "I was actually supposed to die," Edward repeated as he pulled his shirt back down. "I was desperate… I didn't… I didn't want to die… not like that." He started stuttering not really knowing how to word an unspeakable confession. "So… so I-"

"So you what?" Roy growled, a bit angry as if he almost knew the answer already. The fear was still very prominent in the man and Edward turned his gaze away again to Alphonse. He was still asleep, not even knowing what was going around him. Edward guessed he really just wanted to tell Alphonse this. He had wanted to tell him ever since he first saw him but they never had a good oppourtunity. Now, he was asleep, and the Colonel was the only person there.

"So I transmuted myself," he muttered to the wind. The air was stilled. The Colonel opened and closed his mouth multiple times not really knowing what to say. Edward shook his head and gave a weak smile. "I didn't do anything crazy, well, more than what needed to be done, Colonel. I only healed it enough to get myself to the doctors. I really cut myself close there. But I did give something, Colonel." His voice started out strong but then died off to nothing above a whisper. Tears started to form in his eyes and he tried to keep them at bay by wiping them off on his hospital sleeve. He waited a moment for him to actually gain his composure but it wasn't coming back. He didn't want to alert the blind man of his struggles to he tried to keep quiet but he guessed that the Colonel already knew. The man reached up to give him a pat on the back, but missed and patted him on the head instead. Edward sucked in a huge breath and tried to put himself back together enough to continue.

"C-Colonel… I don't know how l-long I am going to be here for. I used myself like a stone…. The Truth took a few years off of my life… I just d-don't know how long… I don't want to leave him…" The Colonel hummed for him to keep it down or else he might wake Alphonse up.

"I want to tell him… but I can't. Not after we just got our bodies back. But I don't want to just die randomly one day either and leave him here. I can't leave him, not after so long-"

"Edward, you won't leave your brother alone," the Colonel mumbled to the wall across the room. He didn't even turn his head to pretend to look at Edward as if he was allowing him to keep some of his privacy and dignity together. "You will live Edward. Don't tell yourself any differently or you will sell yourself short."

"Damn Colonel, you make this sound easy," Edward muttered. Roy frowned slightly as he tried to focus.

"But it is easy. You earned your time with your brother, make it count. I don't care if Truth says you're going to die left too big of an imprint on this world just to leave it with nothing in return. That's not equivalent. So now if you live just knowing you're going to die… I tried that already and it is no way to go about things."

"You what?" Edward questioned him, a bit of shock going through his mind as he tried to comprehend what the Colonel was getting at. The man nodded his head numbly as if to brush the topic off to the side like it was nothing.

"All of us know we are going to die at some point, but when it is prominent we tend to lose sight of what we are even living for. I don't like to talk about my time in Ishval, not even Havoc knows about it. But, I can tell you that I lived most of my time there knowing I was about to die. And at some points I wished it. But aren't you glad I made it out. I really saved your butt with those Homunculi back there," Roy said giving him a blind smirk to tease him. "I, what, took out two and you…"

"Shut up, you jerk, we aren't counting heads," Edward grumbled snapping out of his stupour. "Why do I even talk to you?" The Colonel laughed quietly, making sure not to wake the sleeping patient.

"Because I am your commanding officer until you sign your discharge papers," he sighed happily however, his smile soon faded back into the calm expression it held before. A gap held their conversations for only a few heart beats. Though his eyes were unseeing, Edward thought, if he looked hard enough, he could see something he never saw before behind them.

"To pretend like once the body is gone you never existed…. that is an impossible thing to do Edward," he started up again. "Souls are linked, stained really, with everyone they care about. It's something death will never be allowed to erase. Yes, there will be heartache. There is always that, but with time…. it will just fade away, like an old scar. Still there, but not. Alphonse won't be alone. No one will ever truly be alone, Edward." Edward closed his mouth and looked back at his brother for a short second and then back to the Colonel. Silence held the conversation for a very long time and they both stared off towards the blank wall in front of them in pure contemplation. When the clock struck five in the morning, and the chimes from the tower out in the square rung, Edward stood up and took one last look at his brother.

"Alright," he mumbled. "Alright." Roy felt the shift in the bed and turned his to where Edward was now standing, he got up with him and felt around for his shoulder, his arm waving uselessly through the air. Edward grabbed it and guided him over, the Colonel looking relieved.

"Edward, are you going to be okay?" he asked, his voice flooding with concern. Edward gave the man a weak smiled and nodded his head.

"Yeah, I… I need to go. I got surgery in the morning right?" The Colonel faltered a little bit but then returned with a grin. "I will take you back to your room."

"Thanks," the blind man muttered, relieved that he would be having some help sneaking around so late. As they started to walk towards the door, Edward took one last glance to where his brother was sleeping. Yes, he would be alright. They would both be alright no matter what happened.


End file.
